No one ever promised me it would be easy and it's not. But I also get many rewards from seeing my children grow, make strong decis...ions for themselves, and set out on their own as independent, strong, likeable human beings. And I like who I am becoming, too. Having teenagers has made me more human, more flexible, more humble, more questioning--and, finally it's given me a better sense of humor!LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »

Turn 'em loose.... Wherever they go, they'll be on my land. My land. We're here and we're gonna stay here. Gimme ten years and I'l...l have that brand on the gates of the greatest ranch in Texas. The big house'll be down by the river, the corrals and the barns behind it. It'll be a good place to live in. Ten years and I'll have the Red River "D" on more cattle than you've looked at anywhere. I'll have that brand on enough beef to feed the whole country. Good beef for hungry people. Beef to make 'em strong, to make 'em grow. But it takes work, it takes sweat, and it takes time, lots of time. It takes years.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »

As we grow older, we should learn that these are two quite different things. Character is something you forge for yourself; temper...ament is something you are born with and can only slightly modify. Some people have easy temperaments and weak characters; others have difficult temperaments and strong characters. We are all prone to confuse the two in assessing people we associate with. Those with easy temperaments and weak characters are more likable than admirable; those with difficult temperaments and strong characters are more admirable than likable.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »

People in places many of us never heard of, whose names we can't pronounce or even spell, are speaking up for themselves. They spe...ak in languages we once classified as "exotic" but whose mastery is now essential for our diplomats and businessmen. But what they say is very much the same the world over. They want a decent standard of living. They want human dignity and a voice in their own futures. They want their children to grow up strong and healthy and free.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »

In youth we may have an absolutely new experience, subjective or objective, every hour of the day. Apprehension is vivid, retentiv...eness strong, and our recollections of that time, like those in a time spent in rapid and interesting travel, are of something intricate, multitudinous, and long-drawn-out. But as each passing year converts some of this experience into automatic routine which we hardly note at all, the days and the weeks smooth themselves out in recollection to a contentless unit, and the years grow hollow and collapse.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »

Royalty is a government in which the attention of the nation is concentrated on one person doing interesting actions. A Republic i...s a government in which that attention is divided between many, who are all doing uninteresting actions. Accordingly, so long as the human heart is strong and the human reason weak, Royalty will be strong because it appeals to diffused feeling, and Republics weak because they appeal to the understanding.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »